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Crystal D’Cunha, President & CEO at The INSIDE View Inc., joins Clare Muscutt on the Inspiring Women in CX podcast to talk about her WiCX journey so far, including coming on board as a Founding Member prior to our official launch and being a part of our early co-design phase, her route into CX, always putting her “team members” first, regardless of her role or title, applying DEI best practices, the similarities and difference between EX and CX Design, the importance of the onboarding experience, igniting leaders first to ensure that they’re properly equipped to lead, and the ROI of EX and EX metrics.   Listen in to the full episode as Crystal talks about… 💭 Challenging her own self-limiting beliefs on her route to becoming a ‘mompreneur’ 🔥 Igniting leaders and exciting employees 🎨 The importance of EX Design from the point of interviewing, onboarding and throughout 🚀 Ensuring, as organisations, that we’re “good enough” to secure top talent 🤝 The similarities, differences and overlaps in EX and CX design principals 📊 The ROI of EX and EX metrics to consider   For more information on joining the world’s first online community for women in Customer Experience, head over to www.womenincx.community/membership

Melissa Moore, Founder of The Retail Advisor, joins Clare Muscutt on the Inspiring Women in CX podcast to talk about the moment she realised she’d been in CX all along, putting on her “brave pants” and launching her own podcast, ‘The Retail Tea Break’, the disjunct that exists between those in the “ivory tower” and our frontline workers, and how we must engage, empower, and listen to our frontline workers if we wish to ensure long-term success in business.   Listen in to the full episode as Melissa talks about… 👣 Her route into CX and realising she’s put the customer at the heart all along 🛒 Starting out on the shop floor and how this ‘operational grounding’ informs her role today 🚧 The disjunct between the ‘ivory tower’ and those working on the frontline (and how the pandemic accentuated the sense of ‘us versus them’) 💥 Experiencing bullying within the workplace and how she channelled this pain into power 🤝 Why we need more “joined-up” thinking to engage and empower our employees long-term ✍️ The importance of focusing upon qualitative and quantitative research, and service KPIs, as opposed to ‘productivity measures’   For more information on joining the world’s first online community for women in Customer Experience, head over to www.womenincx.community/membership

Agnes So, the Head of Customer Support and Engagement at HotDoc, joins Clare Muscutt on the Inspiring Women in CX podcast to talk about her route into CX, starting in customer service, her lightbulb moment that subsequently sparked her passion for Customer Experience, feeling like a failure when making the difficult decision to deprioritise her art, before realising ‘art’ within CX through storytelling, problem-solving, and inspiring and engaging others, and her drive and determination to make a real impact within the health tech space in Australia.   Listen in to the full episode as Agnes talks about… 💡 The lightbulb moment that sparked her passion for CX 🎨 Deprioritising her art practice before realising the art and science of CX 💥 How the pandemic created a shift in patient behaviour and accelerated the adoption of digital 📱 HotDoc’s mission to become the “Uber of Healthcare”, creating a seamless, end-to-end experience for the customer 🙋‍♀️ The future of health tech, empowering patients to take control   For more information on joining the world’s first online community for women in Customer Experience, head over to www.womenincx.community/membership

Alex Acosta, CX Quantitative Analyst at DICK's Sporting Goods, joins Clare Muscutt on the Inspiring Women in CX podcast to talk not only about her route into CX, having her sight set on consumer insights and her passion for using data to tell stories and influence senior stakeholders, but also a subject much closer to home, overcoming childhood abuse and living with an eating disorder.   With Monday the 10th of October recognised as World Mental Health Day, in this episode Alex shares a powerful message, not just for leaders, but for everyone, and that is “to lead with empathy”, create a culture of openness and honesty that enables employees – people – to show up each day as their full selves and to feel safe in sharing their challenges.   Because we never know what someone else is going through.   So, this week, and every other, be kind.   For more information on joining the world’s first online community for women in Customer Experience, head over to www.womenincx.community/membership

Anne Gray, the Managing Director at Solutioneers, joins Clare Muscutt on the Inspiring Women in CX podcast to talk about her route into CX, recognising a golden thread of excellence woven throughout all of her roles, the importance of not just good but consistent customer service, her journey to motherhood and infertility struggles, finally allowing herself to be at peace, finding support on her solopreneur journey with someone “just a few steps ahead” and her research into Digital Transformation and measuring a transformation’s success.   Listen in as Anne talks about…   🧵 The ‘golden thread of excellence’ woven throughout her career 💯 The importance of consistently good service in maintaining brand reputation 🧪 Her research in the field of Digital Transformation and measuring a transformation’s success 👶 Her infertility journey and how her life came to a standstill for almost 10 years ✨ Finding your peace and being unafraid to reinvent yourself   For more information on joining the world’s first online community for women in Customer Experience, head over to www.womenincx.community 

TW: Discussion of abuse and childhood trauma. Listener discretion is advised.   In episode #414, Clare is joined by CX Design & Career Coach, Amélie Beerens, for what is both a challenging and inspiring conversation.   Suffering from what she believed to be burnout from work, Amélie recalls being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a result of childhood trauma.   Confiding in one another, Clare and Amélie recall similarities in their experiences of trauma, discuss the enduring impact and share their individual journeys towards healing.   Because our experiences of abuse do not define us.   Listen in as they talk about…   🚩 The symptoms of PTSD and how it manifests 🤝 Seeking professional support to heal 🧠 Recognising trauma and the impact on relationships 💬 The importance of finding safe spaces to talk 💕 Hope, resilience and realising that trauma is not a life sentence   For more information on joining the world’s first online community for women in Customer Experience, head over to www.womenincx.community

Olga Potaptseva, Founding Director of the European Customer Consultancy, joins Clare Muscutt on the Inspiring Women in CX podcast to talk about how her university studies sparked her interest in customer research, how she came to (somewhat serendipitously!) lead a loyalty development programme at GfK, aligning CX with the business strategy, failing forwards (in life and in CX!), what it means to be a ‘customer-enabled’ organisation and her advice to women in CX about creating the life that you want.   Listen in as she talks about… 🔬 How studying Marketing and Economics sparked her interest in Customer Research 🙋‍♀️ Leading a loyalty development programme at GfK, before rolling out a global methodology 📊 Utilising customer data and insights to deliver business results ✨ The importance of self-belief in crafting the career and the life that you want 🤔 What it means to be a ‘customer-enabled’ organisation 📚 Her library of CX ‘micro-actions’ – things we can implement with virtually no budget   For more information on joining the world’s first online community for women in Customer Experience, head over to www.womenincx.community/membership

Ellie Sutton, the Senior Customer Experience Lead at Waitrose & Partners, joins Clare Muscutt on the Inspiring Women in CX podcast to talk about Anthropology as a route into CX, realising that she had a different way of doing things, knitting together customers and operations, being her own advocate in a male-dominated environment and how she used this to her advantage, the importance of brand as a key differentiator, how digital and retail are no longer distinct business units and how we must harness digital to enhance our propositions.   Listen in as Ellie talks about… 🧠 Studying Anthropology – why people think the way that they do – before moving into food retail as a graduate trainee  🤔 How she approached things differently, listening to customer feedback and “knitting” this together with operations  🙋‍♀️ Being her own advocate and viewing CX in supermarket retail through a female lens  🛍️ Post-pandemic shopping habits and the acceleration of digital – using this to enhance propositions  📈 CX, service and proposition design, cherry-picking experiential elements and integrating these into a mass-market For more information on joining the world’s first online community for women in Customer Experience, head over to www.womenincx.community/membership

BONUS CONTENT!   In episode #411 of the Inspiring Women in CX podcast, Clare Muscutt and Digital Experience Strategist, Anna Noakes Schulze take on the Metaverse! 🤖   Listen in as Anna talks about what the Metaverse is, where the term first came from, Gen Alpha as the “gateway drug”, the connection between Web3 and the Metaverse, and the complex terminology surrounding the tech at play (we’re taking it back to basics), and the impact of Web3 and the Metaverse on Customer Experience as a whole – what it means to us as CX professionals and practitioners and what we need to know to stay ahead of the game!   Don’t get left behind! Listen in closely as they… 🤔 Discuss what the Metaverse *actually* is 🗯️ Unpick complex jargon surrounding the technologies at play (5G, blockchain, NFT… 🤯) 🔦 Shed light on the recent “crypto controversies” 👉 Highlight the impact and the implications of the Metaverse on Customer Experience 🧠 And share a number of ways that we can increase our own knowledge and understanding in this space   For more information on joining the world’s first online community for women in Customer Experience, head over to www.womenincx.community/membership

Chelsea Costelloe, the Chief Excitement Officer at EXCO, joins Clare Muscutt on the Inspiring Women in CX podcast to talk about co-founding the Caribbean’s first all-female-led CX consulting agency, the positive shift in the region as more CX titles are appearing, facing scepticism as a young, female director, gender equality in the Caribbean, experiencing sexist comments in the workplace and how, if ignored, these ‘blurred’ lines can become much more insidious and utilising journey mapping as a tool, as opposed to a goal in itself, to spur action, inspire your teams and avoid the dreaded journey mapping ‘burnout’.   Listen in as Chelsea talks about… 🤝 Co-founding the Caribbean’s first all-female-led CX consulting agency, EXCO 🙋‍♀️ Being a ‘Chief Excitement Officer’ (and what the role entails) 📚 The state of CX in the Caribbean and her personal mission to drive CX awareness and education in the region 🗯️ Gender equality, gender-based violence and experiencing sexist comments in the workplace 🛠️ Journey Mapping as a tool to achieve your goals, not a goal in itself 😩 Journey Mapping “burnout” and how to avoid it   For more information on joining the world’s first online community for women in Customer Experience, head over to www.womenincx.community 

Serena Riley, the Vice President of Experience Management at SkySpecs and the Founder and CEO of Joy & Moxie joins Clare Muscutt on the Inspiring Women in CX podcast to talk about starting out in IT – a typically male-dominated environment – her role as the VP of Experience Management within a start-up and navigating the scale-up phase, building her personal brand, Joy & Moxie, her mission to empower women to design for the future that they want, becoming a role model for her young daughter, removing the barriers that she faced for the future generation of female leaders and leaning into your own power by being who you truly are.   Listen in as Serena talks about… 💻 Starting out in IT before “maxing out” and needing something to reignite her fire 📞 CX and customer support in a tech start-up and the scaling-up phase 👭 Stumbling upon the Women in CX community on LinkedIn and feeling immediately aligned 🙅‍♀️ Being a “people-pleaser” and beating her perfectionism 💪 Becoming a role model for her daughter and being able to help her to get where she wants to go “quicker and easier” ♀️ The differences in the way that we parent owing to gender and the impact that this has ✨ The importance of being yourself and acknowledging that you have the power to design the future that you want   For more information on joining the world’s first online community for women in Customer Experience, head over to www.womenincx.community 

Gemma Colby, the Head of Customer Experience at YELL UK, joins Clare Muscutt on the Inspiring Women in CX podcast to talk about her route into CX, recognising only in retrospect that she’d been doing it all along, putting theory into practice as she ran a contact centre, her own experiences with great leaders and how these shaped her approach and, in her opinion, the key skills and capabilities necessary to be a successful CX leader driving changes and improvements that impact the business’s bottom line.   Listen in as Gemma talks about... 🔮 Being ‘predestined’ to work in CX, realising only in retrospect that she’d been doing it all along 😊 Starting out in operations and wielding her passion for people to make customers feel special 🙅‍♀️ Combatting her Imposter Syndrome and redefining what success “should” look like 🧠 Adopting a growth mindset and how creating a sense of “interconnectedness” is key to being a great (CX) leader 💬 The importance of trusting ourselves and recognising what “drives and drains us”   For more information on joining the world’s first online community for women in Customer Experience, head over to www.womenincx.community 

Naima Mwina Mwawasi, the Founder & Managing Director of Content CX Consulting, joins Clare Muscutt on the Inspiring Women in CX podcast to talk about her CX journey – from working on the frontline as an Inflight Manager at Emirates to founding her own CX consultancy – experiencing CX within different countries and cultures and how this sparked her desire to raise the bar in Kenya, being ‘derailed’ by love at a young age and dropping out of school before returning to complete not only her undergraduate but her Master’s degree too and dealing with disapproval as she challenged African society’s rigid gender roles.   Listen in as Naima talks about… 🛫 Her CX career journey, from working on the frontline at Emirates to founding Content CX Consulting 🗺️ How experiencing CX and service delivery within different countries and cultures sparked her desire to raise the bar in Kenya 💍 Being ‘derailed’ by love, consequently dropping out of school and getting married at 21 🙋 How – from humble beginnings and with her parents as her inspiration – she became a financially independent woman “slaying life” and following her dreams 📈 The current state of CX in Kenya and the impact of sudden economic growth, rising customer expectations and technological advancement   For more information on joining the world’s first online community for women in Customer Experience, head over to www.womenincx.community 

Thirza Schaap, the Founder of CX Unraveled, joins Clare Muscutt on the Inspiring Women in CX podcast to talk about taking a leap of faith as she left her role in corporate and co-founded her own CX consultancy, talking with a psychologist about juggling motherhood and work – and what this looked like for her – the 7 factors key to achieving sustainable ‘customer-obsessed’ culture, including identifying those onside, those unlikely to be convinced and those sitting on the fence about Customer Experience and its impact upon an organisation and about the importance of empowering frontline staff through the communication of strategy, training and rewards.   Key talking points include… 💪 How Thirza ‘took the plunge’, leaving her corporate role and co-founding CX consultancy, CX Unraveled ⚖️ Discussing “mum-guilt” and what a healthy work-life balance looked like for Thirza 📋 Outlining the 7 factors key to achieving a ‘customer-obsessed’ culture, including the importance of empowering frontline employees and targeting those “in the middle” 🤔 Thirza’s advice on where to start when creating culture change within your own organisation, analysing your current state and identifying areas for improvement.   For more information on joining the world’s first online community for women in Customer Experience, head over to www.womenincx.community   

Elena Rozanova, the Head of Customer Relations at Rosbank and Women in CX community member, joins Clare Muscutt on the Inspiring Women in CX podcast to talk about escaping the war in Ukraine and the realities experienced by Ukrainian female refugees. Elena was in Kharkiv when the war started and spent a week living in bomb shelters with a friend and her daughter before beginning the journey to Poland as a refugee herself. In this episode, she shares her lived experience and calls on other CX specialists to use their skills to aid crisis efforts and help refugees to settle in new countries.   Listen in as Elena… 👉 Recounts her own experience fleeing Ukraine under the constant threat of bombardment 👉 Shares the contrasts in humanity she experienced as a refugee 👉 Discusses empathy for others in light of her escape, not as a Customer Experience professional, but as a ‘Human Experience’ professional 👉 Puts forward how CX thinking can help in crisis situations, mitigating fear and uncertainty for those affected 👉 Highlights what we can all do to help, from offering accommodation to removing language barriers   For more information on joining the world’s first online community for women in Customer Experience, head over to www.womenincx.community 

Stine Ringvig Marsal, the Founder & CEO of Experience Management Consult, joins Clare Muscutt on the Inspiring Women in CX podcast to talk about ‘tripping’ into CX (didn’t we all!), her passion for Service Design, how to ‘do’ CX and make it work *without* having an astronomical budget, combatting the ‘fluffy bullsh*t’ to reclaim credibility as an industry and viewing CX as a ‘support function’ as opposed to a religion or culture.   Bye-bye CX blabber!   Key talking points include… 🧰 How Stine applies her Sociologist’s toolbox to CX 🎢 Her journey to becoming Tivoli Garden’s first-ever Customer Experience Manager 🤝 The importance of ‘fusing’ employee and customer experience in a regulated industry  💡 How her own life experiences enabled her to ‘step out’ of the mainstream 🙅‍♀️ Why, as practitioners, we must challenge how CX ‘should’ be done    For more information on joining the world’s first online community for women in Customer Experience, head over to www.womenincx.community 

Hayley Pugh, Senior Research Executive at Kantar, UK, joins Clare Muscutt on the Inspiring Women in CX podcast to talk about her journey into CX via a Graduate scheme and trialling different rotations, thriving in a sink-or-swim scenario, ‘embracing’ uncertainty, her passion for UX and the pillars necessary for businesses to provide seamless omnichannel experiences – particularly with ever-changing consumer expectations in the digital space! Thank you, Amazon!   Key talking points include discussing…   🎓 Graduate schemes as a route into CX 💥 The boom of digital transformation since the pandemic   ✅ Meeting customer expectations at every touchpoint (and identifying barriers!) 📳 The pillars necessary to deliver seamless omnichannel experiences 🤖 The consequences of cutting corners in tech implementation   For more information on joining the world’s first online community for women in Customer Experience, head over to womenincx.community 

Liz Berks, Co-Founder of 4Sight CX, Saudi Arabia, joins Clare Muscutt on the Inspiring Women in CX podcast to talk about her journey from Market Research and Insights into CX, the ‘energy and drive’ for Citizen Experience in Saudi Arabia, the dangers of an over-reliance on surveys, ethnographic research and the emerging technologies available to us, and the difference between a VoC programme and the ‘true meaning’ of customer voice.   Key talking points include discussing…   🛠️ The development of CX in Saudi Arabia 💬 The use of qualitative insight to drive CX 📳 How mobile ethnography and ‘insight communities’ can help organisations to build a comprehensive picture of who their customers really are 🙅‍♀️ And how to leverage the data available to you to get closer to customers, even when you have zero budget   For more information on joining the world’s first online community for women in Customer Experience, head over to www.womenincx.community 

Jennie Lewis, Strategic Services Lead at Airship, joins Clare Muscutt on the Inspiring Women in CX podcast to talk about navigating the CX tech space as a woman, finding her niche – understanding not only the technology but the customer perspective too – and dealing with dismissal by finding her voice and ‘partnering up’.   Key talking points include discussing …   🤖 The challenges faced by women in tech 🤝 Driving customer centricity in SaaS companies  💡 Applying the principles of Design Thinking 🤨 And how to be more customer focused in product-led environments   For more information on joining the world’s first online community for women in Customer Experience, head over to womenincx.community   #womenintech #womenincx #saas

Sarah Sargent, Director of Customer Services at Swan Housing Group, joins Clare Muscutt on the Inspiring Women in CX Podcast to discuss her own CX journey, beginning in hospitality, how she challenged traditional gender roles and paved her own way to success despite societal expectation and resistance, and how she now draws upon this personal strength and past experience in order to action CX initiatives within the housing and not-for-profit sector. Additionally, Sarah talks about how the Grenfell Tower tragedy sparked change within the social housing sector, the importance of co-creation and community engagement in centralising the voice of the customer, and also how we can harness data and tech as a tools to deliver value for the customer, employee and business. Tune in to hear them talk about: 👉 Hospitality as a pathway to CX. 👉 The switch from business to customer measures. 👉 Challenging traditional gender roles. 👉 CX in the housing and not-for-profit sector. 👉 How the Grenfell Tower tragedy sparked change. 👉 The importance of co-creation and community engagement groups. 👉 The challenges presented by data (or lack of!). 👉 Breaking down the stigma surrounding social housing. 👉 Harnessing digital to support customers. 👉 Sarah’s advice for women in CX.   For more information about how you can join the world's first online community for women in customer experience, visit www.womenincx.community